The present application claims the right of foreign priority of German Application No. DE 299 23 062.7 filed Dec. 31, 1999, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a hose wire-clamp arrangement that comprises a helical, resilient wire, which is angled outward nearly radially or circumferentially at at least one end portion and at a further portion.
Known hose wire-clamps of the above type are used, for example, to connect hoses in household appliances, and/or to household appliances, in a relatively low-pressure range of typically up to 8 bar. When a hose wire-clamp of this type is not clamped, it has a slightly smaller clearance diameter than the outside diameter of the hose that it clamps to, for example, a fitting. For hose assembly, the wire connecting clamp is first pushed onto the hose, and the hose is placed onto the fitting. To clamp the hose securely to the fitting, the angled portions of the hose wire-clamp are pressed together, which opens the wire-grip, i.e., its clearance diameter increases. In this way, it can be positioned on the hose in the region of the connecting element. In the correct position, the angled portions of the hose wire-clamp are released, whereby the clamp contracts and secures the hose to the fitting in a frictional lockup. A disadvantage of this hose wire-clamp is that, at higher pressure, for example, higher than 8 bar, the hose wire-clamp can be expanded by the pressure in the hose, counter to the spring effect of the helical wire, causing the connection to loosen, and possibly even causing the hose to detach from the fitting.
These disadvantages are avoided in a hose wire-clamp that employs a different type of frictional lockup, in which eyelets are pressed together with a pair of pressing tongs. This hose wire-clamp, which is irreversibly deformed in the assembly process, cannot be pried apart by a service technician. Thus, it is necessary, for example, to cut the clamp open and replace it with a new hose wire-clamp. Aside from the associated material requirement, it is disadvantageous that assembling the hose wire-clamp with pressing tongs requires a large open handling area.
It is the object of the invention to create a hose wire-clamp of the type mentioned at the outset, which is suitable for a frictional-lockup connection of a hose to a fitting, and is easy to mount, without tools, yet can be released and re-used, and is suited to withstand high pressure in the hose or the fitting without loosening and releasing the hose.
This object is accomplished by a hose wire-clamp arrangement according to the invention including-a hose wire-clamp of the above initially described type that is provided with a retaining sheet. The sheet has two cutouts, which are spaced from one another, and at which a respective angled section of the hose wire-clamp rests in the assembled state of the hose wire-clamp arrangement. The retaining sheet prevents the helical, resilient wire from automatically expanding, even under high pressure in the hose, because the retaining sheet prevents its two angled sections from moving toward one another. If, however, the hose connection is to be released, the retaining sheet can be removed from the angled portions of the helical, resilient wire, after which the angled sections can readily be manually pressed together. Aside from the mounting of the retaining sheet, and its removal from the hose wire-clamp, the clamp is handled conventionally.
For the retaining sheet to perform the retaining function, and the hose wire-clamp to remain in a secure, frictional-lockup connection with the hose, even under relatively high pressure, the retaining sheet is dimensioned such that the distance between the edges of the two sheet cutouts facing one another is at least as large as the distance between the two angled sections of the hose wire-clamp in the relaxed state.
With the width of the retaining sheet extending perpendicular to the aforementioned distance, the correct positioning of the hose wire-clamp on the fitting can be predetermined and easily controlled.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the hose wire-clamp arrangement includes a hose wire-clamp that extends from the first angled portion, over a first helical portion, a connecting portion that is angled and partially curved backward in an approximate U shape, as a second curved portion, and over a second helical portion, to a third angled portion, with the first and third angled portions lying close together and the two helical portions of the resilient wire lying between two legs of the second angled portion. This hose wire-clamp advantageously includes a retaining sheet, which has as a first cutout an open cutout at an end portion or edge and, at a distance from this, a hole as a second cutout in a closed portion of the retaining sheet. The retaining sheet can be easily and reliably mounted onto the hose wire-clamp that is positioned on the hose and clamps it, such that the sheet is tipped with its open cutout onto the first and third angled portions of the hose wire-clamp, and is then pivoted onto the connecting portion that is angled and partially curved backward in an approximate U shape. The second angled portion is thereby snapped into the hole of the retaining sheet. Afterward, the first and third angled portions of the hose wire-clamp rest against the first open cutout of the retaining sheet, and the second angled portion is positioned in the hole representing the second cutout of the retaining sheet, so the sheet is captively secured.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below in connection with a drawing with a single FIGURE, from which ensue further features, particularly with respect to the shaping of the hose wire-clamp and the retaining sheet, their cooperation and the attained advantages.